Sometimes the ‘P’ in PDL should stand for Perfection. That was certainly the case in 2001 as the Calgary Storm narrowly won the regular season title with a nearly flawless 18-2-0 mark. The Texas Spurs (16-3-1) and expansion Sioux Falls SpitFire (17-2-1) finished four points back of the first-year Storm.

Calgary completely dominated the Northwest Division for a league-low nine goals allowed, which was half as many as the Chicago Fire Reserve’s second-best 18. The Storm defeated the Seattle Sounders Select, who upset Major League Soccer’s Dallas Burn in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, in four of five matches, including the Western Conference championship match in the playoffs. After falling to Seattle in the second game of the year, the Storm rattled off 14 consecutive victories.

Meanwhile, Sioux Falls started their inaugural campaign with a 2-2 start, but finished out the season without another loss. The lone blemish was a 1-1 tie against the 11-7-2 Des Moines Menace, a traditionally strong side which would host the 2001 Championship.

The Westchester Flames were expected to take the regular season championship down to the wire with Calgary with its 11-1-0 start, but faltered near the close of the season as the club’s coach was on the way out the door. With four games remaining, General Manager Gus Skoufis took the helm of the then 13-2-1 Flames, closing the season out with two ties and two losses.

The postseason was a completely different story for the new Westchester skipper however. Determined not to repeat the previous season’s let-down of a third place finish, the Flames rallied behind their beloved manager to knock off two tough Florida sides, Miami and Cocoa, on the road to advance to the PDL Championship in Des Moines.

The Flames continued to display their unity, dominating the SpitFire with a 5-1 semi-final victory and controlling the majority of play against the Storm in the championship match. Tied 1-1 at halftime, Flames forward Evaud Thompson was able to get two goals past Canadian National Team goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld, who posted the lowest goals-against average (0.46) since the PDL was formed in 1995, for the 3-1 victory.